Engine



April 10, 1928. 1,665,298

' H.,M.CRANE ENGINE Filed July 51. 1926 2 sheets-shea 1 fi?! lnvcfuoz .Pz/enzym 'a/ze April 1o, 192s. 1,665,298

H. M. CRANE ENGINE Filed .JulyA s1. i926 2 sheets-snee: 2

'EENRY Nr.y CRANE; 0E NEW vonk, N. Y.; AssIGNoE 'ro eENEEAL morons ooEroEATIoN,

Patented apr. io, i

0E DETROIT, MICHIGANA ooEroEArroN 0E DELAWARE. I.

ENGINE.

' Ap'piieation mea truly e1,

This invention relates to internal combus-y tion engines having s everal cylinders arranged side by side-and particularly to engines of this type in which the combustion chambers extend llaterally fromV the oyl1n der bores and have valve ports communicating with the laterally extending portions onV the Crankshaft side, cylinders of thissorty being commonly known as L-head cylinders.

enginesof the type mentioned to be made shorter than is possible with the heretoforev usualjoonstructiongto enable the combusf`tion Chambers to Abe 'kept cooler, and to f otherwise improve the construction and *Operation l i These objects, are attained yby arranging The objects of they invention are to enable *the lateralextensions ofthe combustion chambers and valve Vports ofralternate cylin ders upon opposite Vsidesof the' axes of the cylinders, preferablyl leaving a` space be- '5 tween the extensions-ofthe first and third, second'andfourth, third and fifth, and so on, provided there are more than two cylin-V ders: VIn other words the 'valve port vpairsv `of the, several' combustion chambers Vare *staggered 1 Y v The accompanying drawings exemplify:

they invention 'applied to an lengine 'with eight upright cylinders in single rank adapted forinotor vehicles; In'said drawings, in which like reference characters indlcate'like paitsthroughoutl the several views,

Eg. lv s a vertioalftransverse section, on

Vplural planes, namelythrough thev cylinder block on the line 1'-`1 of Fig. 3, and through the loylinder head'on the line` 1-'-1a,rof Fig.

.5."2, omitting the manifolds;

' a common plane.

, Figz is atop plan ofvian eight cylinder Fig. 2 isa top plan view vof a complete engine, partsof the head having been broken Y away and block 'showing ,they valve ports arranged*ac-y cording to this invention.l i

Referring first tok Fig. 3: Numeral 10 indicates a cylinder block indicated from front to rear by numerals 11,

,12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17 -and,18,r respectively.` The'block illustrated forms'part of a four Astroke cycle engine in which the combustion p chambers extend laterally from-thefcylinder if bore, within the'fhead, and the inlets for 1926. serial N0.'1a6,1s9.

combustiblemixture and outlets for burnt gases are controlled by poppet Valves that formed through the block into the chambers at one side-of the cylinder bores.VV -The ports of alternate cylinders are disposed on opposite sides ofxthe blockl as indicatedA iny the ,open and close, in propersequence, ports drawing. In the illustrated embodiment, conv sidering cylinderll as being in the front end vof the blook,and looking fromfront;to

vses rear, theportsfof cylinders 11, 13,15 and 17 i y areon theleft hand vside of the block,.while theports of cylinders 12,14, 16 and 18 are V'on the right hand side. The intake ports'on the'left handl side are indicated by the reference characters 111, 113,115 and 1.17.; the exhaust `port-s. by E11, E13, E1i and E17. On theriglit hand side of the inlets ports are indicated lby reference characters 112, 111, Il@ and I, the exhaust ports byv E12, E14,y

E1 a'nd'El'. By:v preference. air gaps 20 intervene on each side y.between laterally projecting portions ofthe `engine block and khead thatrcontain` the valveports and communicating combustion spaces.

An engine havingthe arrangement Vof 1 combustion chambers and valve ports-'exemplified in Fig. 3, may have lan intake and 'exhaust manifoldA onv each side Vanda @am shaft on each side'to' operatethe-valves'.: f

In Fig. 1 the; lefthandcam shaft (look-f ing from VfrontjtoV rear) is indicated `by* numeral 21, the right Vhandfcanfi shaft by numeral 22@ These'camxshaftslare equipped "with the usual'fvalve'lifting camsV 23 ,`to be rotated at half-.crankl shaftjspe'ed'byfthe' usual gearing"(`not shown) driven'f-by the crank shaft disposediwithintheoasing- 24;v

(Eig. :2). The individual valves. and valve 'operating devices are no-part` of this invention andV they may be of Aany standard typefused in L-,lieadV engines; Figlshows `the crank case 25V supporting. the .block 10 and housing the `crank Vshaft 26 and cam/shafts 21 and' 22. Beneaththe crank oase isi the usual loil pan27. Alternatelyl disposed on oppositefsides ofthe blockv arelaterall projecting parts or overhangs 28 and 29, in whichthev inlet and exhaust passagesvare formed. An inlet passageis shown at 30 inlEig.1.v The vinlet poppetk valve 31- may be 'considered las `controlling the y admission of fuel mixturethrough thepassa'ge 30 and f port'I17 to the combustion chamber'of cylin der 17. Valve hasa stem 32slidable in.

gft

-a bearing 33 formed in the overhang 29j `the loWer end lof stein 32rests uponl a tappet Y :34,guided in a bearing 35 on the crankcase and'theta'ppet engages the cani 23 ,spring 3G" keeps the tapp'et in contact with .the c'ain,

all accordingto usual practice. The air spaces betiveenthe overhangs 29 and the crankcase arecovered by removable plates 37 in the same manner as it is customary to 'Y =cover `in and house tlievalve stem spaces on one side 'of theusual L-head engine.

The

jjfotherfvaljvesfon'bothsides, both inletv and "exhaust, are of similar construction and are similarly operated. Thei'overhangs 28 are fspaced ifromeach other bythe air gaps 20,

previouslyfrefei'red to, and the'ioveihangs 29 are'-likei'visev so spaced.

l fandtherfle'ft hand onejat 41. These maniintake lport on s one side and` an exhaust port fon the otherfof each'airgap. A so" v"cylinderfbloclr. In it are :formed the sevfio lfolds Vhave apports registering l`Withfthe lrefy spective passagestha'tl communicate With the- 'valve por'tsfsliovvn and identified in 1Fig. 3. .fFor purposes'o'f equal cooling of the several chambers itis deemedadvisable to have an The .head casting 42 may be bolted to the eral combustion. chambers 43, alternating in fpositioiiyasdescribedi VIt mayhalve gaps in lits opposite "edges, staggered With respect temperatures as tofcause knocking or deto- Vnation,.a Vphenomenon Itoeachother,as shown in Fig. 2 and registering 'with the air gaps 20. The individual combustion 'chambers are, in contour, vtypircalof nthoseinL-head engines used inY motorvehicles. Invplan view each is somewhat triangular in outline, 'with the `base tof`jthetriangle. registering VWith the -over- 1 hang' ofthe cylinderblock. .The valveports Y fthe cylinder' boreV VregiStersWth the `space 45 flieside by'side Within theV base portion andv `within the apex.. VThej-chambers, as shown Y .fin Fig; VV1,"have"more clearance over-thevalve Vportsthan overthe cylinder bores; as shown Y beplaced. in the best Vtiring position.

invFi'gsLQ and 3,they are considerably Wider' `over the valve fports than 4over :the cylinder fbore. It will" be seen that a plane perpen-4 fdicularto the crank shaft axis midvvayfbetween adjacent cylinders kWill intersectthe *combustion chambers ofV the adjacentv cylin- `rders. Adjacent combustion chambers over Ignition plugs 44 may drawings they are Vshovvn'adj acentthe valve iports substantially in the midvertical` trans- V "verse plane of the chambers. f

frangementdescribed `and illustrated maybeV :readily apprehended. Lehead engines have VThe rutilities of the construction and-ar..

lascertain'advantage over othertypes in-that 5 the valveV mechanism f is simple, because' the valvey stems can be directly operated by the cam shaft ivithout' theintervention of levers;

but the combustion chambers necessarily have a more extensive plan area' than those ofi the overheadnvalvedtype'.. vIn order to get sufficient area and lift oivalves to attain 'high speed thevvalverports must Ybe relatively large. As the valve ports lie side by high speed noW in generall use is determined by the Width of `the chambers at the valve ports rather than vbythe diameter of the cylinder bore.

By adopting the arrangement oftthisin;

lvention the Vlength of the engine may be l governed by the diameter ofthe cylinderbores.` Thus, multiple cylinder engines. of

thistype may vbe made shorter than vheretoV lfore With consequent Vsaving of space, lightening` of lWeight, shortening andV `stiiiening the crank shaftzand reducing Costs.v UIn"V i oo Y motor carsv'vith eight cylinders in one rank,`

for example, the'saving o space Withinthe Y hood, the lesser deadfweight, andthe minimizing of torsional vibrations incident to y the described arrangement are considera-V tions of'very great'import-ance.l

lThe described arraiigementalso permits Vthe presence'of airlgaps as described adjacent the exhaust valves, thus "facilitating i cooling `and tending to-prevent such high I commonly asso-v ciated with excessively h1gh temperatures and pressuresin tliecombustion chambers.

Vihile one specific embodiment of the'in.- 7 Y other forms may bedesigned Within the *principles ofthe invention.

l' v,VV'hat'lclaim is l. An engine comprising site sidesof the cylinder axes.

2. An engine comprising L-head cylin- `ders Aarranged-side by side,` with laterally having combustion Y chambers extending located side byl sidein thelater valve ports Vally extending portions of the chambers; theV laterally extending portions and valve ports lhea'd cylinders arranged side by side, the v.valve ports of Vadjacent cylinders being disposed on joppo- 12ok Y appertaining to adjacent cylinders being y disposed onopposite sides of thecylinder axes.

3. Anengi'ne comprising L-'head cylindersV arranged vside by side, with laterally extending combustion chambers having val-ve ports located side by side in the llaterallyextend-` ing portions of the chambers; the laterally extending-portions and valve ports apper-V taining-to adjacent cylinders being disposed on opposite sides of the cylinder axes, and

the extensions of the chambers of adjacent cylinders being intersected by a transverse plane midway between the axes of said cylinders and perpendicular to the crank shaft.

LA cylinder block having L-head cylinders arranged side by side With'valve ports from the adjacent ports in the same side by j an air gap.

6.V A cylinder block having L-head cylinders arranged side by side 'and lateral pro-y jecting portions each having inlet and exhaust ports for one cylinder, said projecting v I portions being alternately disposed on opani posite sides of the block, adjacent projec- 'i tions on each side being separated byan air gap- 7. An engine comprising L-head cylinders having their axes lying substantially in a.'

common plane Withlaterally extending combustion chambers provided With valve ports in the laterallyextending portions; the, laterally extending portions `of vthe chambers and the valve ports appertaining to adjacent 'Y Y cylinders being disposed Yon opposite sides of said common plane.

.In testimony vwhereof I` aiiz signa-A' ture. i Y

HENRY M. CRANE. 

